Origins: Obi-Wan Kenobi
by missmartian34
Summary: He is every Master's dream, a straight wire, a rule follower. She is a rebel with a hundred secrets. When young Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and Abi Alavai's paths cross, it will change their futures forever. And the force will never be the same.
1. Chapter 1 - Revelation

**Abi:**

"General, Jedi have arrived." Rylee stands at the center console in the security room, his tall stature takes up much of the room. Any other person would think he was a blaster wielding strongman, but he wouldn't hold one if his life depended on it. This was his life, a small 8x8 corner of Taris.

Jedi. My breath becomes shallow and then falls short. How many years has it been since I spoke to a Jedi? Why are they here? Rylee turns his head away from his left monitor looking from me to Kanzin, and back again. He's not used to me being so silent.

Kanzin points a large clawed finger at the center monitor and in Trandoshan grunts, "Is that Qui-Gon Jinn?" He turns his right eye to me, the other covered by a makeshift patch. I keep telling him we have the resources to at least get him a proper titanium cover, if not a completely new eye. His large frame shows impatience with my silence and he begins tapping his clawed foot, shaking the same finger at the center monitor. He knows just as well as I why Master Qui-Gon Jinn would take time away from Dantooine or Coruscant and make his way to the far reaches of the other side of the galaxy - to Taris.

"Yes that's him. Find out where they are staying Rylee, I should pay that young padawan of his a visit."

"Yes General." Rylee turns back to his console. Kanzin looks at me even more sternly than his resting face already looks.

Master Qui-Gon Jinn is here for me.

 **Obi-Wan:**

This is the most excitement I have had in nearly a year. Master Jinn has made me spend most of my time mentoring in diplomacy on Coruscant. It's fine. I enjoy it. To the point where I have started seeing myself sitting on the Council someday. What would it be like to make all the decisions for matters of peace and matters of war for the entire galaxy? Anyone in their right mind though needs to get away. There is only so much time one can spend with the nobles and their henchmen, and their henchman's henchmen.

We step out of the airspeeder and make our way into the South Tower where we will be staying during our time here.

"So you never exactly told me why we are here? What has another noble been kidnapped and we need to negotiate their ransom?" Master Jinn throws me a stern look.

"I wish it was that simple." His arms cross and brows furrow. My steps grow larger and quicker to catch up to him. He turns quickly as if he has read my mind.

"Never wish for a time of war Obi-wan, you do not know what that is like. You do not understand the darkness that lies within it."

"Yes Master, my apologies." He's right. The Sith are gone and the Jedi are as strong as ever, I know nothing about war. I've been training to be a Jedi since I was 2, I don't remember what came before it, and I don't think there will ever be an after it.

"Get us two rooms Padawan Kenobi, I am going to look around." Master Jinn exits the tower and turns right. I have no idea how he is going to know what rooms I get for us, but somehow I am sure he will find it.

I walk down an aptly lit corridor and nod at the thin woman at the counter with several long black braids, one draping down either shoulder and the rest down her back. She smiles at me and extends a dark hand towards me.

"Welcome to Taris," she states warmly. Her eyes look iridescent in the light. "What can I do for you Master Jedi?" She has no idea I'm a padawan.

"Oh I am not a Master, yet, could I get two rooms mam?"

"Yes of course, and would you like to hear about any of the specials we have going on?" Her hand waves over a set of pamphlets that fill up the whole counter.

"I think I am alright with just the two rooms thank-you." She hands me two key cards and I find my way to my room. I lay down on the tiny bed scrunched into the far corner, it's enough for now.

 **Abi:**

I hand Tati back her name tag and polo. "Thanks Tati, I will be sure to get your father those medications he needs by dinnertime okay?"

Her accent is thick as she replies. "Oh thank-you Abi, many kindnesses to you."

Taris a planet of gangs and sectors, but it is also one of refugees. I came here with Kanzin at 19, and I have no intention of leaving. I fought for the south sector, and now it is free. Qui-Gon is not going to take me away from here. His padawan did not even recognize me. What is a name like Obi Kenobi anyway?

 **Obi-wan:**

I'm shaken awake at 3 in the morning by Master Jinn.

"Time to get going we have a job to do."

"At 3 in the morning?"

"We don't get to decide when the force calls us." This man and his quips are going to be the end of me.

"Okay so where are we going?"

"South Sector Headquarters." He answers sure of himself, like any Jedi is just allowed to walk into South Sector Headquarters. But I follow him like I always do, because despite all of his quips, I trust this man with my life.

 **Abi:**

"They're passing through the Cantina mam," Rylee looks at me quizzically. He doesn't understand why I haven't stopped them yet.

I turn to Kanzin, "You know the drill K." He grunts an unintelligible response and motions for me to head back to our office. Well his office, but it's really my office. He pretends he is the General of the South Sector and I pretend I am absolutely nobody. It allows me to sneak through other sectors undetected. My soldiers say nothing. My strategists keep it quiet.

I make my way to the small meditation room hidden behind a bookshelf in the back of our office. I hear Rylee's voice overhead, "We are a Go General," and just like that cameras light up the room with Obi Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. I can see from Jinn's mannerisms that he is going to let Kenobi take the lead.

"Thank-you for meeting with us on such short notice General Kanzin. We know that your time is valuable and look forward to making a deal with you for the health of the Republic." He says it like he rehearsed it in front of his mirror a thousand times before he tucked himself into bed. Jinn couldn't have found himself a more straight necked protege if he tried. I am sure the Council is happy.

Kanzin grunts, but gives no real reply. The Kenobi kid looks flustered, and Jinn takes over.

"We would like to see the real General now Kanzin." Kanzin strikes a claw into his desk and snarls. His right hand has wrapped around his techblade that always sits across his back.

It's time to let the 9 years that now sits between me and the Jedi temple to rest. I give Rylee the overhead signal and the bookshelf opens up.

 **Obi-wan**

The girl from the tower comes out from behind the Trandoshan. I bet Master Jinn is pissed that I didn't recognize her earlier. Him and his ridiculous tests, that's why he had me check us in.

"We meet again Obi Kenobi," she smiles the same smile she did when she was playing secretary. The Trandoshan still has not removed his claw from the desk, and she sets a delicate hand on his left shoulder. She speaks to him in Trandoshan, I don't understand it but whatever it is seems to calm the giant down. They switch places and he moves to the back right corner of the office.

"I prefer to do this alone Abi," Master Jinn says this with a tone lacking his strict diplomacy like I am used to. It's like he has known her his whole life. He has turned soft.

"Whatever you want to say in front of me, you can say in front of Kanzin," Abi's tone is not nearly as soft. It is thick and rough like you would think a General of an entire sector of Taris would be.

"As you wish," Master Jinn responds, once again not arguing like he usually would be.

"So Qui, you're going to have to tell me why Yoda would tell you not only that I am indeed alive, but where I am."

"We need your help."

"That I gathered. It's 4 in the morning Qui, let's make this quick and I will let your Padawan get back to sleep," she looks me up and down twice, "clearly he needs it."

What in all of the galaxy does Yoda have to do with any of this?

She continues, "Judging from how far his brows have furrowed into his head, I also gather that your Padawan here has absolutely no idea what is going on. So what is it Qui."

"We need to take down Val-Sharthra."

"Absolutely not." She states it briskly and turns to get up. In that half of a second I have looked from Abi to Master Jinn, absolutely bewildered. There is absolutely no way we can take down one of the biggest crime lords in the entire galaxy.

Master Jinn purses his lips. "Then I have been instructed to take your lightsaber Abi." Lightsaber? This is far too many revelations for 4 in the morning. What in a Twi'lek's stripe is going on here?

Abi's body tenses and she reangles herself to once again sit square to us. She sets her hands down on the table flat. "There is no way I am risking my men's lives for a suicide mission." Her eyes burn into Master Jinn's. "And there is no way you are taking my lightsaber Jinn." I would have thought her to resume a General's tone, but this is lighter, calmer.

"Then I will have to take it by force," Master Jinn replies just as calmly. It's like I am not even here anymore.

Abi smirks the corner of her left lip lifting slightly. "Oh Qui, I would like to see you try." She once again gets up to leave.

"We will post your face in every subsector. We would ruin what you have here." I turn abruptly to Master Jinn. We both know the South Sector is the only safe place on all of Taris. He couldn't risk that many people's lives, surely, just for this girl.

She had gotten two steps away at this point. I expected her to turn to Master Jinn, but instead she looks directly at me. "Tell me Obi Kenobi, has Qui here told you what happens to the Jedi who fail training."

"It's Obi-wan. And I am not sure what you are referring to mam."

"It's General, Obi Kenobi." She states with each note a short staccato. "The failed Jedi. All of the children they find in orphanages, or take from their homes. The ones strong in the force. The ones they snatch from their mothers and their fathers, expecting them to obey. Tell me Kenobi, what do they do with the children that don't pass all of the tests." She has turned to Master Jinn while saying this last sentence, and so have I. In all of my years with him, I have never seen him angry. He is exactly that right now.

"No." He says, short and to the point. But the one word is loud and mean enough to make the Trandoshan take a step from his corner. Abi holds her hand up to motion for him to stop.

"So it's clear then, you haven't." She has turned back to me, expecting me to answer the question she stated over a minute ago.

"Well… They…" my mind is reeling. I do not know why I have not thought about this before. "They… they wipe their memories, and send them back to their families with compensation." Yes that is what I was told by the Council several years ago.

"Then why do you think Obi Kenobi. That my once Master, a kind and benevolent being. Why do you think Master Yoda had to devise an incredible plan to get me off of Dantooine after I failed my training?" She is calm and states the words like they are simple, but I cannot recollect any idea that would give an answer. And I can tell she knows that, I am aware she is a powerful force user now.

I do not know why I could not see it before. She is reading my mind.

" _They kill them Kenobi. They kill them all."_

She turns and walks out of the office, and the Trandoshan follows her. Leaving Master Jinn and I to resolve something that I would have never fathomed. I look up at him not even realizing how long I had been staring into the desk, like it would tell me the answers.

Even his eyes are in pain.


	2. Chapter 2 - Communion

**Abi**

It has been almost an entire day since I walked out of my office, leaving the Padawan to his new revelations. How could Jinn even think about threatening me?

 _He has no idea what I am capable of anymore._

I realize Rylee has been motioning to me for what could have been hours, I have lost track of all time. I found solace in the corner of his security room, he didn't say anything. Rylee never does when he overhears something incredible and shocking coming from my office.

"General. Abi. General!" His dark brows have furrowed with impatience.

"What?!" I am so upset over the morning I didn't see see him pointing to the security screen.

I stand up on my tip toes to peer into the screen with the label "South Sector North Entrance." A man in white robes stands at the center of the screen.

I didn't think he would ever come back. I guess this Obi Kenobi guy is stronger than I once thought.

I send him out to the Southeast Bay where we can both get some fresh air and look over the city. It is beautiful at this time of night, small lights from huts, and big ones from towering buildings. Neon lights from speeders whiz by. I close my eyes and relish in the sound of the absence of silence. It makes me calm and clears my head to hear the sounds of South Taris thriving.

"General, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi is here to see you," Rylee says. He brought Kenobi out himself. He must be worried.

I resist the urge to turn around, and instead sit with my legs dangling over the edge of the bay. I cross my arms and set them on the bars that block me from falling into oblivion altogether. "It's okay Rylee. Kenobi why don't you take a seat." I pat my left hand on the tile next to me.

There is a lightness I feel now as he comes closer. It is a feeling I am not accustomed to. He isn't upset, or angry with me. I turn my chin up to the left and lift my eyes to see him. He looks like he has aged five years since I saw him this morning. His face is pressed thin, and I can see he has been grasping for answers the entire time.

"Are you sure?" His head motions towards the spot next to me as he asks the question.

"It's the least I can do after upheaving your entire existence this morning," I give him a half smile, and he sits down. He leans forward like I did and takes the biggest sigh I have ever seen, resting his forehead on his crossed arms. I press my right cheek to my arms and try to memorize the details of him as he takes shallow breaths staring down at the edge.

His hair is a dark blond and cut short, but looks like it hasn't had a touch up in ages. His neck is tan, and I realize he has probably been on quite a few missions before he came here.

Were the missions to find me?

I continue my analysis, realizing I have never taken in how big he actually is. My despise for Jinn prevented me from doing so. His shoulders are nearly as broad as Rylee's - for what reason I am not certain - as I am sure Kenobi has never carried a blaster in his life. His left hand is running over the top of his head. Calluses run along each fingertip and the side of his thumb, likely from bad encounters with his own lightsaber. I smile briefly to myself, remembering the days that Master Yoda had to bandage my hands, because of all of the burns. Things were simpler back then.

I have been staring past Kenobi for a minute in reminiscence when I come back to the present. His eyes are a piercing light blue and they are staring directly into mine.

We both pause here for a minute. We are two different products of a broken system lost in time. We are likely the same age, and probably crossed paths at some point on Dantooine, but have both forgotten.

"What can I do for you Obi Kenobi?" My cheek is still resting on my arm, and this seems to amuse him.

"I don't really know what anyone can do for me anymore." His answer is honest and comes out without wavering. It is probably one he has been thinking for the last twelve hours.

"May I ask what Jinn told you?"

Kenobi leans back stretching his neck answering to the night sky, "He told me the truth about everything. I'm…" His eyes close forcefully.

I sit up and set my left hand on his right forearm. His eyes meet mine again, "As much as we would like to think we can; we do not get to control the people and places we grow up with Kenobi." His eyes are searching into mine for more answers. "You were an orphan when they took you, then a child as they melded your mind, then a teenager that flourished into the structures they built for you. It is not your fault."

I squeeze my hand into his forearm in the last sentence and he takes another deep sigh.

"What am I supposed to do now that I know?" His question comes out with urgency.

"You do absolutely everything in your power to change it."

"How?"

"I don't know. I can tell Jinn is training you to be a new Master on the Council. Your strength and wisdom gives you power. Amend the rule. Break it. Rules are there to guide us, but it does not mean that they are right."

"He needs you, you know."

I scoff. "I am absolutely not helping you infiltrate Val-Sharthra's lair."

"Why not?"

I turn to him irritated. "I already told you it was a suicide mission."

"I have known you for less than 24 hours. Well… slightly more than 24 hours since you faked being a worker at the hotel. I can feel the power emanating around you enough to know that it would not be a suicide mission."

He's good. They just might make a Master out of him yet. I stare at him in silence.

"So why not?" He persists. I continue my lack of communication.

"Tell me Abi," his voice is softer now, "Why did you fail your Jedi training?"

 **Obi-Wan**

My eyes are burning into hers. I am prepared for the staredown of all staredowns. I have had enough of them with Master Jinn to have the ability to do this until dawn if I have to. Her eyes are a deep green - a forest filled with secrets and lost time.

"UGH!" She gives up first and lays her back on the granite tile, covering her face with her hands. Her dark braids are in a disarray around her head. It is the first time she hasn't looked like a General. She can't be much older than me. In fact I think she is probably a few years younger. Her dark and calloused hands brush over her face, rubbing circles into the space between her eyes and over her temples. She looks up at me, and sets her hands folded onto her stomach.

"Did Jinn tell you anything?" she asks, clearly hoping he had so she didn't have to say anything.

"No." I lay down on the tile next to her realizing that she isn't planning on moving. We both stare up at the night sky.

"It isn't a happy story Kenobi," she says in a whisper that is also a surrender.

"Whatever type of story it is, I would like to listen." Her head turns toward me, but I don't move mine. I hear her sigh.

"They teach you in the Jedi Temple about anger and how it leads to the dark side right?" She knows the answer to this is yes. She is stalling.

"Keep going Abi." I can feel the unrest in her.

"They didn't take me when I was a baby, and that was probably their mistake. I became an orphan when I was six on Tatooine. Our village was ambushed by a group of scavengers, but they weren't normal scavengers riding in on eopies. They came for something specific, because they began going through every hut one by one. Tearing them apart. My father told me to take our village bantha and get as far away as possible. But I was confused. Why would I take the bantha all by myself? I got angry with him and told him I wasn't leaving without him or my mother. It is that set of two or three minutes that has haunted me until now. In that time the scavengers got to my hut."

She turns to me to make sure I am still listening, and I am. Hanging on her every word, watching the hand movements she uses to motion different parts of the story. I want to know everything about her, and I don't really know why.

She continues. "I felt something different about them when they ripped off the jakrab hide my mother had so devotedly sewn to the front of the hut. If they had been real scavengers they wouldn't have torn it. They would have taken it and sold the hide. My father stood in front of us, and it was by far not his first but it was his…" her voice begins to falter, "...his last sacrifice for our family."

She continues on a brief tangent, "After Yoda got me out, I once again hoped to understand the defense instinct of a parent for their child. What he felt in that moment, someday with my own children."

I turn to her to see that she is looking up at the sky, her eyes straining to blink back tears.

"My mother was second. I don't think I will forget her scream, never for the rest of my life. Then, instead of striking me down, they just stared at me. I was whimpering holding my hands over my face waiting for the blow to come when I realized that all of them had stopped moving. They had been searching for me."

"They teach you about the great power of anger in the Jedi Temple, but they don't teach you about sadness, Kenobi." I turn to her at the sound of my name and see that she has turned to me as well. There are a small amount of tears streaming down her face. I lean my right hand to wipe one off, and her reflex immediately swipes my hand down to the tile.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that." I say trying to mend the space between us.

"It's not your fault." She repeats for the second time tonight. Her hand rests on top of mine and neither of us moves as she continues.

"It was sadness, a deep pit. It was endless and filled every space in my body and mind as I stared at what the scavengers had done to my parents. As the sadness welled up in me producing tears, something else welled up as well. It started as a tingling on the back of my neck and moved down every limb of my body. The moment was so short the scavengers did not see it coming. I don't quite remember what came next. There was a scream, it took years of meditating with Yoda to realize that scream was my own. And then a different sound that was at least four or five octaves lower." She stops briefly taking a deep breath, "when I opened my eyes they were all dead. Every single one, blown 40 or 50 meters away from me. My house was in shambles, and then everything went black. Yoda said he found me laying in between their bodies the next day."

I squeeze her hand hoping to tell her she doesn't have to keep going now.

"I felt that same sadness over the next ten or so years in my training. And then one day, one of the Masters was instructed to help me through a moment of depression and grief, and I was overcome. It was and accident, short and quick. He didn't feel anything, or probably know what was happening. Yet, that was the Council's last straw. They realized the power I was capable of when I killed a Master in less than a second."

"And that's when they scheduled my execution."

We stayed like that for another good hour. Her hand on top of mine. She may have upheaved my life, but for the rest of mine I would never be able to understand what happened to her and what it did to her everyday.

Moreover, I would never be able to understand her ability to forgive. Her ability to get through the day, giving herself to others like she did in South Taris.


	3. Chapter 3 - Failsafes

**Obi-Wan** **-** _**a few weeks later**_

I walk into a room that could be called even less than minimalist. There is wall to wall white sand and large, dark black rocks lining a path to the center of the room with a large bonsai tree. Perched in a consistent hover over the largest branch of the tree is likely the wisest person in all of the galaxies.

"Come in, you may." Yoda says without opening his eyes or turning towards me.

"Master Yoda," I begin to lightly step on the rocks making sure to avoid the white sand, "I have something of grave importance I would like to have your assistance with."

I am standing in front of him now with my head tilted up to be able to look him straight in the eyes. He opens one eye to me. I begin to speak but he holds up his 3 three fingered hand to stop me.

"Waiting over a decade for you, I have." He opens both eyes and hops down from the tree, and begins walking away from me.

"Wait Master Yoda, where are you going?" I am frantically following him. For his short stature he walks extremely fast.

"We," he stops briefly peering over his shoulder and then continues to the door, "Go to Coruscant, we shall."

 **Abi**

It's been two months since I spent three hours on the bay with Kenobi. I haven't heard from him since then. I never got to actually relay how he was feeling. Perhaps I will never see his piercing blue eyes ever again.

I hope that I am wrong.

"Hey are you going to make a move or not?" A disgusting lurker that I am playing Pazaak with in the Cantina says.

"Yeah yeah, me winning the last four hands not deterring you at all?" I smirk at him and he scoffs back. I am about to turn over my hand when I hear buzzing in my left ear.

"General, do you read me?" Rylee is in my ear com, and his voice sounds demanding.

I lean over my shoulder and press lightly into my ear with a whisper, "How important is this Rylee, I am about to win my fifth game of Pazaak?"

"You're gonna want to hear this General."

I lean forward, "You know I really think I could use another drink."

The man hunches back in his chair, "You literally just got a drink."

I look down to view my mistake, "Well you can never go wrong being a double fisted drinker am I right?"

He falls off his chair in laughter, and that is how I leave him.

"You are a go Rylee," I command as I find my way into the crowd of people dancing.

"I am switching your com to the Coruscant news right now General."

Coruscant news? How was this important at all to interrupt my Pazaak game. I am about to protest when I hear a major Senator make an announcement.

" _I am here today with Master Yoda and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi of Dantooine. After over a month of deliberation and decision making about the ethical issues of the Jedi Academy's 'Failsafe Execution Clause' we have come to not only a verbal but a written agreement that the Jedi will no longer execute those who fail their trainings, but erase memories and provide for them in the most humane way possible. We understand the public uproar that has resulted from the unveiling of this rule, and would like the public to know that we will be both prosecuting and taking precautions with members of the Council who have let this horrible and tragic cruelty go on as long as it has." The crowd cheers in the background. "I would like to personally thank Master Yoda for his cooperation and leadership during this time. And of course would like to thank Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi for his courage. We hope his fearlessness in the hierarchy of the Academy gives the public ease that the future of the Jedi Academy is in the best hands possible."_ _There are more cheers and then the feed cuts out._

I drop the drink that has been in my left hand to the floor and it shatters. The packed house of people continue to dance around me like nothing has happened. I turn my com off and look up at the blinding lights at the top of the dance floor muttering to myself, "That son of a bitch, he did it."


	4. Chapter 4 - A

**Abi**

I am hungover in the morning and have about 3000 more credits in my pocket from hustling at Pazaak when Rylee bursts into my room incredibly uninvited.

"General there is an emergency in the underground of the West Sector." His eyes are nearly bugging out of his head and he looks frantic. I push my pillow from over my face to the side window that looks out at the city from my bed. I press my fingers to my temples and make a silent prayer that the adrenaline from what Rylee is about to reveal makes the pain go away. He knows better than anyone how little time I get to myself.

"Get out with it Rylee," I pull myself to my feet and head into the kitchen to gulp a giant glass of water as Rylee follows.

"A swooper meet ended up being a cover for a slavery auction. I have intel that there are children being sold for slave labor."

"Intel?" I pressure him. He would not be here if he had only intel.

"I hacked into Jakart's swooper mainframe and was able to visualize it. There are children being walked in…" His eyes look down to the ground, "they were in chains."

I have finished my water by now and head into my closet that is almost completely full with battle gear. Rylee begins grabbing pieces of my body armor and we exchange the pieces with my current clothes. The armor is black laced with jade. There are boots with sharp spikes in the back. A chest plate that weighs more than your average child, and black armor on top of that. The top right corner of the plate holds my code name in jade " _A."_ So far no one has thought to put Abi and A together.

The exchanging of clothes and armor has become an automated experience when it shouldn't be.

Violence plagues this planet, and I don't know why I chose it over all the others. There is violence everywhere. In one way or another someone is being enslaved. Whether it is child labor or prison labor or simply a citizen enslaved to the choices of their government. And yet I go on, I compartmentalize the terrors I witness and do it because I have to. I glance up at the tall man in front of me who has sacrificed every relationship in his life to stare at computer screens to make sure that people are safe. We get into fights that shouldn't have started in the first place. I kill people that wouldn't be in front of me if only they had made one single different choice in their lives that could have catapulted a multitude of other decisions. I save people who never know who I am. I am A, only a faceted helmet and jade crown, and never a real face.

I contemplate that it is very possible that I will soon be a legend, because I don't think I will ever get to grow old.

I think that this life I have chosen is going to kill me.

Rylee takes a deep breath as he hands me my lightsaber. It's a long staff that is made of pure titanium. In about one hour I will be underground, and out of the end of the staff a burst of jade green will come out.

It represents hope.

 **Obi-Wan**

I am walking into the South Sector with Master Jinn as we just heard word that Val-Sharthra is moving his plans for the weapon that could bring death to millions to a different planet. The move is sudden, and we need to catch him before he leaves or we might never find him again.

I am nervous and excited to see her again. I hope she sees that I did all that I could to rectify the Failsafe Execution Clause, and that she will agree to help us. I am not sure we will be able to survive Val-Sharthra's lair without her.

I am not sure if I will be able to survive life without her.

The doors open, and instead of the greeting I have been envisioning every night for weeks on end, the tech man Rylee stands in front of me.

"Abi is out right now, can I help you two?" He looks like he was in the middle of something and really does not want to be having this conversation.

"She needs to come back right away," Jinn gives Rylee one of those death stares that he is becoming famous for.

Instead of giving a proper response, Rylee walks away and motions for us to follow. He leads us into a room completely surrounded by security monitors. He turns around, "She is out on a mission right now. What is this about?"

The door shuts behind us. "Val-Sharthra." Is all Master Jinn seethes out. He does not like his time wasted.

Rylee suddenly stands up straighter and acts like he has both been shot and had an epiphany at the same time. He stares out into space for so long I step forward to try to help him. He shakes out of it from my movement and looks right at me with the most trouble I have ever seen come out of dark brown eyes. He gulps and mouths, "It was fake."

Master Jinn begins to move forward like he wanted to shake the life out of Rylee, but I hold my left arm out to stop him.

"Rylee, what was fake?" I set my hand on his shoulder attempting to calm down whatever has spooked him through a very mild force stasis.

"There was an issue in the Western Sector underground this morning, and Abi went out to fight with Kanzin. I have no way of contacting her when she is underground. Val-Sharthra must have staged all of it so Abi would not be here when you arrived." Rylee glances over at Master Jinn his brows tensed in a tight line.

"Is there anything you can do Rylee?" Master Jinn's voice is softer now.

"I can send out an emergency bot to her, but I have no idea when it could reach her. Sometimes she is gone for days." He turns around and begins pushing buttons on a console until a tiny robot flies out and begins hovering in circles around Rylee. Rylee turns back towards us.

Master Jinn nods at him, "Send it, but we must go after Val-Sharthra now."

Rylee nods to both of us. It's the nod a soldier gives when he knows that his fellow platoon is about to die as soon as they hit the ground. I look down to the ground and begin to turn to go as Rylee catches my arm.

"What you did out there for the Jedi children. No one will ever forget that. My brother, he was taken when we were three and five. We stopped hearing from him a few years ago. Abi tried to found out what happened to him. And…" He shakes his head. His brother was one of the failsafes. "Thank you Obi-Wan."

"I only wish I could have helped sooner. I hope you know that." He nods to me, and I follow Master Jinn out the door.

"Kenobi!" He calls with urgency. I stop briefly without turning around. "If you see her, call her _A_."


	5. Chapter 5 - Crusade

**Obi-Wan**

Master Jinn and I are now hidden up in an air shaft in the North Sector, waiting for the guards to change shift so we can sneak into the bay and catch Val-Sharthra. Master Jinn puts his hand on the side of my right cheek in a paternal gesture. "Are you ready Padawan Kenobi?"

I don't think I will ever be, but nod anyway. He jumps down three stories from the air shaft and I follow. My landing is a bit more heavy than his. I still need to work on it. I move forward to the door but Master Jinn puts his hand up. He is silent, and his body is not moving a hair's length. I take in my surroundings and realize that we are in a vacant, huge room with titanium walls. At the moment there is no other being in the room with us, but the force is telling me differently.

Master Jinn lights his green lightsaber and heads into a deep stance. I cover his back and do the same. All around us men in heavy body armor begin turning off their stealth belts. There are at least two hundred.

I sigh, and close my eyes for a single moment. Making solace with the promise that I will die here today, but die trying to save others from harm.

The blaster fire begins on my right front and I wield my lightsaber in a criss-cross pattern blocking the fire. I see in my periphery Master Jinn has pulled off a titanium plate from a side wall and has dropped it on top of five men. There is now blaster fire from everywhere and he transitions to creating a force shield over the two of us while I fight my way through hordes of men.

A large Twi'lek with two scythes comes at me full force. We meet and I block his first blow, and then the second. I change my stance and take a power stroke slicing right through his right arm and leaving him to die on the floor, writhing in pain.

"Great only about 194 to go." I chide to myself. The blaster fire is coming quicker now, and Master Jinn can barely defend it in time, just as much as I can't block each blow from each successive tech blade, short arm sword, and staff that is coming after me in quick succession. I don't know who is wielding a blow at me anymore, because there are too many men to tell.

Our backs touch. We are coming tighter together because there is no where else to go. My eyes begin to burn from trying not to blink.

And then they all stop.

Turning towards the right front corner of the room. A giant green figure flies down from the air vent and grunts a war call. His arms unfurl from around a much smaller figure garbed in black armor with a jade crown. The figure leans on a dark grey staff, completely relaxed. They hold up one armored black hand palm up into the air and shouts, "So what will it be boys?"

Every single one of them turn their weapons away from Master Jinn and I and to the figure. The dark grey staff gets banged on the ground and a sharp green light spurs out of the top.

It's Abi.

She holds the lightsaber like a pike and falls into a battle stance, and Kanzin steps out from behind her pulling a techblade that is as large as Abi from his back. He bats the butt of the blade in his hand and smiles a saber toothed grin. She looks up at him and laughs, "Don't have too much fun okay?"

I see her right hand go from an open palm to a fist, and at the same time 50 men collide together. Kanzin goes to work covering her left side, and she drops four or five titanium plates from the ceiling on top of the men, and begins molding the plates to them.

She turns to Master Jinn and I while she is somehow molding 50 men into a giant ball and defending off massive blaster fire at the same time. "HEY YOU TWO BANTHA FODDER! ANYTIME YOU WANT TO HELP WOULD BE GREAT!"

Master Jinn makes a strange sound from under his breath, and it is unlike anything that has ever erupted from him before. I think he is laughing?

 **Abi**

I am alternating between crushing men with the force and using a force push as Kanzin wacks away at men like they are brush in a jungle. Kenobi and Jinn begin fighting their way in from the corner, and as they do the blaster fire starts to die down. Jinn begins lifting bodies into the corner getting them out of our way, and the four of us make a back to back square with each other fighting men off left and right.

Kanzin seems to be making the most head way as his tech blade wipes away a group of five men every time he sweeps it like a bat. Kenobi has a criss-cross block and power stroke mechanism working through a group of ten men.

It isn't long before we are surrounded by bodies. Kanzin has already shifted from fighting to going through belts to see if he can find anything handy. Jinn turns his attention to the door that stands between us and the bay. Kenobi's last powerstroke cuts the last man of the platoon in half.

Kanzin turns his attention to Kenobi as he shuts off and replaces his lightsaber to his belt. He speaks a bunch of excited but frightening Trandoshan to a befuddled Kenobi and holds out a giant, clawed hand.

Kenobi turns to me his eyes wide. I press my left hand to temple of my helmet and it unfurls into itself, becoming a collar.

"He says that it was a pleasure fighting alongside you."

"Oh. Well thanks big guy!" Kenobi readily takes the hand of Kanzin and shakes it up and down.

I walk towards the odd couple and remark, "He thinks you are talented with a lightsaber." Kenobi turns to me, bright blue eyes burning into my thoughts. "I agree."

"Thank you for coming. A." He chagrins.

"Honestly Kanzin would have been upset with me for weeks if we would have missed a fight like this Obi Kenobi." I smile back.

All three of us walk towards the large bay door that Jinn has been meditating in front of trying to figure out how to open.

"Rylee, you there?" Rylee chatters in my ear and begins to give me instructions for hotwiring the doors main box. In less than ten seconds the door opens, and Jinn looks over at me annoyed.

We open in on a towering and tattooed Twi'lek with his hands on a black box standing about one hundred feet away. His garb is an expensive silver armor from the oceans of Manaan. He has 3 large guards with him, but nothing else. It's Val-Sharthra.

The four of us walk forward. "I do believe that we are here for what is in your hand Val." I point to his black box and he smiles at me.

"I thought you were in the underground A. Or should I say Abi?" I realize I never put my helmet back on, but Val-Sharthra already knows who I am from our countless Sector leader meetings where I "interpreted" for Kanzin.

"Hand over the plans, and you will hear nothing further from us." Jinn takes over. I scowl at him. I would love to catch Val-Sharthra and have him prosecuted for all of his crimes.

"Kill them." Val-Sharthra commands in a deep wrath.

Kanzin takes no time to send 3 successive spears from his pack through the heads of every guard. We walk ten or so feet closer.

"Last chance Val. This isn't the first time we have had to have a conversation about your thefts and dealings. I think you should think about that history and hand over the box."

"You are only a child, you have no idea what power this holds."

"See I actually have no idea why we are here, but he does," I point to Jinn, "and it seems like _he_ thinks it's very important so why don't you let the people who are capable of handling power, handle the box."

Val-Sharthra shifts the box into one hand only and dives the other into the back of his belt, taking out a grenade with him. "Let me go, or we all die." His voice continues to be monotone like any average serial murderer.

"Look Val, I really don't think you want to do that." I turn to Jinn looking for permission.

I am not sure why I am. It has been nine years now since the Jedi Council signed my death sentence for the action I am about to take against Val-Sharthra. Since then, I have used the force countless times to defend first myself, and then as I grew more powerful - defend others. On a handful of accounts I have had to use the same action I used against the Master I killed accidentally. In each of those instances I was left with no choice. It was always life or death. Just like right now.

Jinn looks at me, his dark green eyes are solemn. He didn't want it to come to this. I am sure he never wanted my help in the first place.

He nods.

I rotate my head back to Val-Sharthra and raise my left arm, palm open. "Val tell me, before I do this - I always wonder. What have you heard _A_ stands for?"

He laughs holding up the grenade higher over his head, "Assassin."

"I wish that had been enough of a warning for you." I channel every sadness and heartbreak I have ever felt into the tips of the fingers of my left hand, and close my eyes. In my mind I can see every curvature of his inner organs. His heart, the aorta and the curve it makes descending into his abdomen.

I clench my hand into a fist. His heart bursts in his chest, and he falls to the floor dead.


	6. Chapter 6 - Heartbreaker

**Obi-Wan**

Val-Sharthra has fallen to the floor in less than a second - and I have literally no idea what happened. One minute Abi had her hand up in the air, and the next he was gone. Nothing happened in between. She looks at me over her right shoulder and her lips are pursed. We both have no idea what to say to each other in this moment. She is the first to let her eyes fall away, and moves forward to Val-Sharthra's body.

Master Jinn follows her and Kanzin's wide stride catches up to her then manage to get to Val-Sharthra's body first. Abi hands Master Jinn the black box, and then kneels down. It's at this point my body finally lets me move forward.

In all the galaxies, how many people have ever been able to kill someone from nearly a hundred feet away - with just the movement of the hand?

I finally catch up to the group and no one acknowledges my existence. Master Jinn and Kanzin are both peering down at Abi. Her hands are perched flat over Val-Sharthra's head. She is speaking to him - and only him - and I realize it is in Trandoshan. I turn towards Kanzin and he has his head bowed. A moment later Abi is done, and she takes her right hand and closes the eyelids of Val-Sharthra. It is a simple gesture that shows an immense amount of compassion. In one moment she is a deadly weapon, _an assassin_. In the next she is a small figure displaying grief for one of the most evil men in the galaxy.

"I am sorry it had to end this way Val. May the force be with you." Kanzin immediately begins rustling through Val-Sharthra's armor, taking it off layer by layer.

In another moment Abi is up and nods at me pointing down to Kanzin, "He's been wanting that armor for nearly a decade." It's like she does not realize that I am still in shock about the incredible chain of events that I feel like have only happened _to_ me - I was not even a player in the game.

I turn towards her and ask simply, "How?"

"It's best to leave it alone Padawan Kenobi." It is Master Jinn who commands me instead of answering the question.

"Well they used to have another nickname for me on Nar Shaddaa," she answers defying Master Jinn's stern tone. She begins walking out of the bay and draws her left index finger up to the receiver in her ear. Before she presses it, she finishes her sentence.

"It was _The Heartbreaker_."

 **Obi-Wan** _ **same evening**_

Twelve hours later Master Jinn and I are back in the South Sector Headquarters. There are large vats of alcohol being passed around and everyone is partying. It did not take long for word to get around that Val-Sharthra is dead. Abi has been in a command meeting for almost six hours regarding what is supposed to happen in the aftermath of the events of today. Master Jinn has not taken his hand off the black box, but seems to be enjoying talking to Rylee in the corner. Who - for the first time - does not seem to have a giant headset attached to his head.

Kanzin is relaying the entire events in what one could assume is what slurred words sound like in Trandoshan. He has five men in the back room working on the silver armor of Val-Sharthra, which I can imagine he plans on wearing himself as soon as possible. I am enthralled by words that I have no way of understanding when I feel a light hand press down on my left shoulder.

I turn to see Abi. Her eyes look ragged. "Can we talk?" She asks with hope behind it.

"We have actually been waiting for you to get out. There is something we wanted to talk to you about alone if that is okay?" I glance over at Master Jinn, and he waves his hand at me as if to say I should talk to Abi on my own. "Well I guess just you and I can talk alone?"

She looks down at her feet and I see a slight smile lift one corner of her mouth. "Of course Obi Kenobi."

We walk into her back office, and the steps feel like an eternity - given what I am about to ask.

She sits down behind her desk, and I sit in front of her. "What did you want to talk about Obi Kenobi?"

"You can go first." I smile at her, not being able to even imagine the level of exhaustion she must be feeling right now.

"Oh. I guess.." she trails off for a moment and looks down at the desk, "I was wondering if you would want to stay for a while longer?" She looks back up at me, and our eyes meet.

"That actually follows along with what I wanted to talk to you about." I pull out the portable holo device I have had in my pocket this entire trip.

"Really?" She once again looks hopeful. I smile at the emotion.

"Master Jinn has another deal for you. This time it doesn't involve you dropping down from a proverbial sky and saving the day though."

Instead of laughing at what I thought was a funny comment, the look in her eyes changes. "I am not sure I want to take another deal from Master Jinn. Since this last one almost got the both of us killed, and the one before that involved me being sentenced to death." She seethes out the latter half of the sentence.

Luckily I came prepared. "I thought you might say that." I set down the holo device on her desk. "Tell me Abi, why do you think Master Jinn isn't serving out some kind of sentence for the failsafes?"

She is quick in her reply, "Broken systems take longer than a few months to get fixed Kenobi."

She is right in that, but wrong about Master Jinn. I turn on the holo. "You don't want to know what he wrote on every failsafe's execution?"

"Get out with it Kenobi." She is back in her General mode now, and any glimmer of hope that was between the two of us has been extinguished.

I keep going, "He voted no on every single one."

"What?" Her answer is short, and she to draws her head back in shock.

"Not only that," I press a button on the holo and a the first piece of signed lettering appears, "He wrote a comment on every single one."

She grabs the holo device from me and peers closer into the lettering, it takes her a few seconds for her eyes to drop down to the desk and then find mine across it. Her mouth opens slightly, but I speak first. "It says 'to treat this padawan as a failsafe would be an immense waste of potential.'"

Her mouth closes, but her hand is still one the holo device. "You can flip through it. There are over a thousand documents on there. They all say the same thing." She continues to stare at me in disbelief, and so I continue in her silence. "It says that on all but one."

"Whose?" A soft voice that I wouldn't recognize unless she was sitting in front of me says.

"Yours." I answer mirroring her tone.

"Do you have mine?"

"Yes, it's number 734."

Her fingers press a few buttons on the device until she finds it, but instead of reading it she hands it to me. "Read it to me Obi Kenobi."

I oblige. "'To treat this padawan as a failsafe would not only be a loss of potential to the academy, but a loss of potential to the galaxy. Her use of the force should not be feared and forgotten, but given the chance it deserves. She should not be punished for the events of her past, for what others did to her as a child. She should not be punished for what she does not understand.'"

I stop and look up. There is a tear running down the side of her face. I try to fill the silence again, "I know it isn't everything he could have done. But I hope you see that this act of defiance was what he thought was all that he could do." I pause and continue after some thought. "In what, well the both of you actually, call a broken system."

She is staring at the side wall the same tear is on her face. I move my hand on top of hers on the desk, and she stirs out of whatever trance she had been in. "There's more Abi."

"You're really just trying to make this a FULL day aren't you Kenobi?" Her tone is relaxed and she closes her eyes shaking her head back and forth a few times.

"Do you want me to continue tomorrow. We have permission to stay as long as needed."

"No Kenobi! Are you serious? What is it!" Her hand clutches mind tightly.

I chuckle and my body lightens at her touch. "When Master Yoda and I were on Coruscant, Master Jinn stayed on Dantooine. He made a petition with the Jedi Council," I pause for a brief moment and squeeze her hand, "about you."

I regretfully have to remove my hand from hers and press buttons on the holo again until a video of Master Jinn appears.

" _I understand that many of you here do not think that Master Yoda and the young Obi-Wan Kenobi will succeed in Coruscant. However, you are all wise enough to come to the realization that with the failsafes becoming public, things are going to change. When still waters are disrupted there is not just one ripple, but many more that follow. With that being said, it is at this time I would like to bring up one failsafe in particular. One who is still alive." Master Jinn pauses in the video. "You all know that failsafe to be Abi Alavai. I stand by the words I wrote on her execution decision, and we all know that they were right. She has proved her potential was beyond imaginable. In the absence of a teacher, she became her own. She has given to others in ways that many of us in this Council could only imagine. Most importantly at no point in any history of her did it appear she leaned towards the dark side. It is actions that define us. I would hope that you all see her actions in countless instances justify what I am about to ask all of you today." The holo shoots to a view of all of the Jedi Council members with hundreds of papers in their hands. Some of them are looking through the documents, but most cannot keep their eyes off the figure in the center of the room. "I propose that Abi Alavai have the opportunity to finish her training here on Dantooine." The holo video ends._

Abi is once again looking at me in sheer disbelief. I answer the question she hasn't found the ability to speak yet, "They said yes."

"May I keep this?" Is all she says pointing to the holo device.

"Yes of course."

There is an extended pause between us until Abi breaks it, "I would like to be alone now Obi Kenobi."

I am disappointed at the statement, and get up to leave. I have my hand on the door of her office when I glance back at her. There are tears streaming down her face.

It's in this moment I realize something about Abi. Just like dark and light, she is a dichotomy. There is _A_ , a killer. A battle ready General who at a young age has managed to take over an entire sector of a planet. The history that Master Jinn found about her was classified to only the Masters, and I was unable to look through it, but I imagine it read much the same. A girl who pulled herself out from a death sentence and managed to use that pain to battle for those who could not battle for themselves. Yet, on the complete other end of the spectrum there was this version of her sitting at the desk. A soft human being. A person that becomes overcome with emotion. Someone who can show compassion for a man who maimed, killed, and enslaved countless lives as a war criminal. She is dark and light.

And all I can think about is that I hope that her asking me to leave is not her answer to the Council inviting her back.

All I can think about is wanting her to say yes.


	7. Chapter 7 - Bonds

**Abi**

I can't fall asleep. The last three hours has been me staring at speeders passing by my window. For the last few years these neon lights and odd hours have made a home - one that I never really had after the death of my parents. I've always had trouble sleeping since then, and I suppose tonight is not any different.

During my time on Nar Shaddaa I did a lot of the same. Staying up most nights and trying to see if I could save the child version of me every time I went out. Maybe the next being I save will right everything that had happened to me up until then: my parents, the Jedi Academy, and trying to survive on my own. I was always wrong. No matter how much good you do, you are never going to wake up and have the bad things that happened to you erased.

But, you can always change your narrative.

I unfurl myself from my sheets one limb at a time. There is someone I need to talk to. Someone I need to apologize to. I throw on a new set of clothes and head down my hallway, out the sliding door, past Rylee's security room coupled with his confused look, and make my way towards the hotel in the South Sector.

I should have known he would be in the lobby. He glances up at me from his meditation and gives a half smile. His long brown hair has wisps of grey. He stands up as I get closer, we head into his room, and sit across from each other on two brown meditation mats. We pause for a time until he looks up and stares into my eyes thoughtfully.

"Why did you do it Jinn?"

"Which part Abi?"

I hesitate before I answer, because I am actually not sure what part of what Kenobi revealed to me I want to ask about. "Actually, I should apologize to you first."

He doesn't utter any words, but furrows his eyebrows instead. It is a signal that I should keep talking.

"I judged you too soon, and treated your silence like an admission of guilt. I hope you know that I am grateful for what you have done. I am just not sure if I can accept it." I look down into my hands at the last sentence.

"Not sure?" His words are short, as they always are.

"I don't think I can go back to a place led by people who sentenced me to death."

"I think you are incredibly capable of doing more than you believe you can. You have grown into a formidable opponent on the battlefield Abi. Yet, that isn't where it ends. You are also a formidable opponent in a conversation," he pauses for a moment, "an opponent in silence."

"So you are saying in your special jedi-mind-talk you are so good at using - that I can take on those in the academy who sentenced me to death… in a conversation?"

He half smiles again, "In a way yes."

"So what do I do about Taris? How am I supposed to leave what I have built here?"

"I spent some time talking with Rylee today."

"Rylee?" My voice goes up an octave without meaning to in a moderate level of shock.

"In the event of your absence, he is willing to take on your role."

I look up at the ceiling contemplating Rylee as a new _A_. He is literally the only person in all of the galaxies I would entrust the safety of Taris. It fits. It shouldn't, but it does.

I look back at Jinn, and spend time counting how many gray hairs he has now. I get to 24 when he interrupts me, "He is capable."

I answer like it is a reflex, "I know."

"So why are you hesitating?"

"Because throughout my life it seems like people should have hesitated instead of making rash decisions." It is a group of words I have spoken many times to a squadron of men. _Don't try to be a hero, that isn't how most battles are won_. _Think before you act. Always think._ Yet, for the first time I have spoken it to someone I - every messed up part of my psyche - needed to speak to.

He hesitates before he responds. It is in this moment, among many I'm sure, that I understand why he was given the title of Master. Jinn understands things in a way that matters. When he speaks again he does so slowly, "I understand. But something is still perplexing you."

Of course he's right. "I don't know how to go back." He can sense what I am about to say is hard and he puts his hand over mine. "I don't know how to be anyone but but who I am in this Sector. This is the only place I have ever felt safe. I have built something here."

"And why can't you take what you have built with you?"

"That literally makes no sense Jinn."

He doesn't respond but looks down at my chest.

"Have I spilled something?"

Jinn moves his hand from on top of mine and raises it palm to chest, then points to his heart. "What you have built is right here."

 **Abi -** _ **very early next morning**_

I am standing in a poorly built fortress. There are children in my peripheral vision dancing. Tents expand the area, some are white and others a poor shade of yellow, older and forgotten by the sun. Men and women in orange and yellow armor are about one hundred yards away. They are surrounding what seems to be a meal serving station. There is laughter and pats on shoulders.

Something nudges me in my shin, and I look down. I should have known this wasn't just a dream.

I am in a force-bond. I am back on Nar Shaddaa, in the deep pits of the Justicar fortress.

Yuligla Soleve is at my feet sitting cross-legged. She doesn't take her eyes from the children I can see are dancing to a native legend. It has been a long time since we have done this together. A year, if I could guess. I sit cross-legged next to her, my straight back coming at least a foot higher than hers. She doesn't look like she has aged a day since I left Nar Shaddaa, but then again Yuli is almost 100 years old now, so I am not sure the body does much after a certain point. Her skin is still the same olive-toned tan with wrinkles that are more like creases you would think had been ironed on. Her hair is still long and white, pulled back into a long braid. Her eyes are still a deep blue, like the oceans of Manaan.

We sit next to each other for a while, watching the children. Every now and again she barks some orders about steps that are wrong and makes them start over. This goes on for another twenty minutes until she tells them to get meals and talk with the gang. When they are all gone she stays seated next to me.

"How are you Yuli?" I speak to her softly, though no one else can see me but her.

"Oh you know, the days are shorter now and run together, it is always much of the same." She puts a crinkled hand on top of mine and squeezes, looking up at me her eyes are pools of kindness.

"I miss this." It is all I say, but she and I both know that the brevity of my words do not weigh in on the difficulties in my heart. When Yoda shoved me on a storage freighter he had absolutely no idea where I would end up. It was all he could do to save my life. A few adventures, and some misadventures, and I ended up here. I joined the Justicar, because I found Yuli. I could sense her force abilities from across the room, but she kept them quiet nearly her whole life. She acted as a wise elder to her village, using only her powers of persuasion and premonition when they were necessary - and sometimes messing with a bratty kid by making him trip over his shoes.

She helped me heal. She taught me about forgiveness. She gave me the gift of compassion, and I don't know why I ever decided to leave her.

Well yes I do, I left because she told me to. _There are better things for you ahead, than anything you could find here. Go and forge your own way._

"I think I know why I am here Yuli."

"Yes, as do I." Her lips are set in a hard line. It's one that could either signify happiness or pain.

"They want me to go back."

"I know."

"Should I?"

"That is for you to decide my love." She turns back towards me and cups a hand to my right cheek, and wipes a thumb over a tear I did not know existed.

"I think I have to." I murmur, nearly soundless.

"You are not obligated to do anything. Only what is in your heart." She points to her heart in the exact same way that Jinn did earlier and it makes me laugh. "That isn't a sound I have heard in some time my love."

"I know," is all I reply.

"There is more light in you now than there has been in nearly a decade."

"You can feel it too?"

"Of course."

"Then you see why I have to."

"There is always a choice. You could follow the light, or you could not. There will always be the dark. It will wait for you behind corners, and inside deep crevices of your sadness. It will be there in waiting. You can go to it," she pauses and takes a deep breath, "no one would blame you if you did my love."

"I would."

"You would what?"

"I would blame me. And..." I pause.

A wicked grin appears on Yuli's face and reveals another missing tooth than when I last saw her. "And someone else would blame you too?"

"Yes," I sigh.

"They like him around here you know."

"Kenobi?" I am shocked.

"Yes, he earned a lot of credit with his work on Coruscant."

"Yuli, they hate Jedi here."

"They have been convinced they hate Jedi." She peers over at the station where everyone is eating. A few children are waving her over.

"I am going to go back."

'"I know," is all she replies.

"I will come back and see you soon."

"Yes very soon I should think." Her left index finger points to her temple like she thought of something.

I smile back at her knowing that if she has seen it, then it will come true. I begin to get up to leave and so does she, but I stop myself.

"How is he, Yuli?" Pain twinges all the corners of my voice.

"He misses you very much." I look over at the station to see if I can see Dash. His tall and broad frame would stick out among any mass of people.

He was my few adventures, and my few misadventures. We survived together after the freighter, and joined the Justicar together.

"He does?"

"Yes, though, he would never admit to it." She gives me a smile now, but it is full of sadness.

"I miss him too."

"I know."

Then she's gone, and I am back in my bed on Taris.


	8. Chapter 8 - Icarus

**Obi-Wan**

Master Jinn kept me busy with a week of work on Taris. We made diplomatic negotiations for ransom. Which are really a lot easier with Val-Sharthra dead.

The next week he made me contribute to trade negotiations for kolto tanks. Unnecessary, because there was no reason a Jedi needed to be involved.

It was all he could do to keep me busy, so I wouldn't think about her.

Abi.

She's all I think about. I wanted to know her answer. Two weeks have gone by, and I have heard absolutely nothing. We didn't even step foot in the South Sector Headquarters. And now, here we are in a hangar making it through security. It's crowded. I guess there has been a huge influx of immigrants now that Val-Sharthra is dead. It makes sense. All races follow safety.

Here we are leaving Taris, and I didn't even get to say goodbye. What would I even say?

 _Oh hey so you really changed who I am, how do I keep in touch?_ Horrible.

 _If you are ever on Dantooine be sure to say hi!_ Desperate.

 _What's your holo call number?_ I am not even going to touch this one, nor how many times I practiced saying it.

I follow Master Jinn to Hanger 5, and we sit on the benches outside waiting our turn. A confused Selkath makes his way towards us and begins asking for directions. Master Jinn let's me practice my Selkathian, and I look up at him for a specific word, but he is looking far past me with a smile on his face. It's a foreign experience, and I wonder to myself if he has had the opposite of a stroke.

"Miss me Obi Kenobi?" Her voice is light - for maybe the first time.

I turn around to see her wrapped in in a tan coat with four gold buttons going down. Her hair is in much smaller braids wrapped on the top of her head in a large bun. Kanzin is standing behind her in Val-Sharthra's silver armor. The most important thing about all of it, is the large black bag Kanzin is holding in his right green, clawed fingers. And the smile on Abi's face.

She turns from Master Jinn to me, and back again. "Wait you didn't tell him?" She begins to laugh.

"Tell me what?" I say eagerly.

"This is a good one Jinn. He is so surprised!"

I turn to Jinn. He nods to me, "I have come to quite like surprises, I think."

"You're coming," is all I can muster to say. It's stupid. It's obvious. I have spent my entire life learning how to be speak the right words, and all I can do is state the obvious.

"We we better get to The Icarus, they don't like it when we back up the departures."

"The Icarus?" I turn to her and then Master Jinn. He is smiling again.

"Jinn! You didn't tell him that we are using my ship!"

"I wanted it all to be a surprise." He has to sit down now he is laughing so hard.

Abi gives me a face of pity, and all I can say again in disbelief is, "You are really coming."

She smiles and steps forward, and then pauses. Kanzin has set his left claws on her left shoulder, keeping her from stepping any farther. He grunts something, but it isn't directed at Abi, it is to Master Jinn and I.

"Oh Kanzin wants you to know that he is coming too."

Master Jinn looks at her quizzically, and then like they are speaking to each other through their minds he nods, and takes the black bag from Kanzin and heads towards the hangar. It's a fatherly gesture.

"Shouldn't he be staying, because you know he is the leader of the South Sector."

We both begin walking forward toward the hangar, Kanzin close behind. Abi leans in closer to me and speaks quietly, "He is staying until I 'get settled.'" She gives air quotes and continues, "but really he is coming because he wants to make sure I am not just going back so you all can kill me again."

It's a solemn note I had never thought about, and it shows the privilege I have had in my life over hers. She breaks my deep thought and nudges her left shoulder into mine. It breaks what I am feeling and I realize the situation I am in.

Abi is coming to Dantooine.

This isn't goodbye.

Then I am dumbfounded that the next thought is just coming to my mind, "Wait you have a ship?"

 **Abi**

We step foot on The Icarus and Kanzin immediately walks swiftly past the three of us to assume a position at the head of ship. We walk down a short corridor, the first door to the left is a weapons room and a tool station. To the right is a makeshift kitchen that has been wiped clean by some of my infantrymen on their last smuggling mission. We come to a roundabout, both left and right sides leading to the front of the ship where Kanzin has already disappeared to. Down the middle is a stairwell that leads to all of the bedrooms and the storage room on the ship.

Jinn heads down the stairs like he has already been on the ship before. Honestly, if he had I wouldn't be surprised. The man has shown more gumption in the last few months than I care to admit to out loud. Kenobi has paused at the stairwell. His broad frame isn't moving an inch. He is looking for permission to move.

"You can go down there, really it's okay." I give him a half smile and start to move to the front of the ship.

His left hand grabs my arm so that I stop moving, "How did you get this ship?"

It's a simple question that has a long story to go along with it, but I choose the shortened version. "A Pazaak game."

"Seriously? Who were you playing with that you won a ship?"

"A very important person, quite a few years ago." It's all I want to relay right now.

"You don't want to show me around?"

I point behind me, "That's the weapons room, and the kitchen. Both of which have nothing useful in them for you."

"And what is down this way?" He points down the stairwell hoping I follow.

I shrug in defeat and follow him down the stairwell where we see that Jinn has already taken the room with a large bonsai tree donated to me by my old Master. It's my room, but I will let it slide this time. Kenobi begins to head into the room across the way, but I swiftly move to stand in his way. "Not this one. This one is off limits."

Kenobi smirks, head getting too big it seems. He steps forward. I put my hand up and freeze him in place. "Don't make me do that again," I seethe between gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry... I thought..." he grips the air for words.

"I don't care what you thought, this room belongs to someone else. You can take another." Kanzin's voice breaks my disappointment, as he announces we are about to take off, and in less than five minutes will be in hyperdrive on our way to Dantooine.

Kenobi looks at me quizzically waiting for me to translate.

"We are leaving, and you really need to learn some Trandoshan. Kanzin will probably be around for a while. He trusts you about a hundredth as far as he could throw you."

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you," he says with so much conviction it almost erases every fear I have about going back. He takes a step to a room that is farther back and to the right and then turns around. "I mean it Abi, I really do."

I give him a small smile before I head back up the stairs. He does mean it. In every overconfident and ambitious way he means it. He is on top of the galaxy. He has made the Jedi Academy a safer place. He has made Taris a safer place. And I still have no idea what that black box holds - but it is possible that Kenobi made the galaxy safer. He is a true and straight arrow, and he means every word that comes out of his mouth.

Yet, I still do not trust him. No, not fully. He stands for a system that governs with an insurmountable amount of power. There are not enough checks and balances to correct that. And I believe that despite the failsafes, he might use his straight arrow to follow that system right into the ground.

I pause at the first step and grip my hand tightly around the railing. I glance briefly over my shoulder at the room I blocked Kenobi from walking into.

Kenobi isn't him. He isn't the man that used to occupy not only that room but a spot in my life.

He isn't the man I trusted, and likely would still trust with my life.

He isn't Dash.


End file.
